Improvement in glove-stretchers



n. S, HAYwAn.

` Glove-Stretcher. N0. 165,096, Patemdlunezmnsv.

Inventor" THE GRAPHIC C0.PHOT0LITH.39B:41PARK PLAGEJLY.

UNITED l"raras Devin s. HAYWARD, `or New vonk, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN GLOVE-STRETCHERS.

Specification formingpart ofLetters Patent No. 165,096, dated June 29, 1875; application filed June 11, 1875. l

.To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, DAVID S. HAYWARD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements in Glove- Stretchers, of which the following is a specifi cation:

The object of this invention is partly to produce a stretcher that will be light, strong, d urable, and effective, and partly to combine with the stretcher proper a receptacle for the powder used to facilitate drawing on the glove, so arranged that the powder may be applied while the stretcher is yet in the glove and the glove expanded.

Heretofore glove-stretchers have been made solid, of hard wood, bone, &c., and to be strong enough it was necessary that the parts should be made thick and heavy. To give the proper curved shape to the handles `also necessitated cutting obliquely across the grain, which rendered them weak. No provision was made for using powder in connection with the stretcher, that operation having to be performed after the stretcher had been removed,

` and by a separate apparatus.

My invention consists, partly, in a tubular Aor hollow stretcher, made in two `parts and hinged together, and partly in the combination of the stretcher with a receptacle for containing glove-powder, arranged to be operated simultaneously therewith, or before the stretcher is removed, and both tending to accomplish the same result. Another feature of novelty consists in the peculiar construction of the hinge and spring.

In the drawings, Figure I is a 'view of my improved stretcher, with jaws closed. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same, with the jaws open, showing the tubular construction, and the manner of arranging the powder-receptacle. Fig. 3 is a view showing the powder-receptacle, as constructed in the form of a bulb of elastic rubber. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the hinging-piece and spring, all made from one piece. Fig. 5 is a modification of the same, constructed of spring-wire. Fig. 6 shows a modification of the hinge.

Let A A represent the twohalves of the stretcher, which may be precisely alike, a a being the jaws, and b b the handles by which they are operated. The two halves are hinged together at c. One essential feature in the structure of the parts A Aconsistsin their being hollowor tubular, the jaws, when closed,

presenting a smooth, rounded outer contour,

or a polygonal contour, if `that-form be preferred. This hollow form gives great strengthy :in proportionto the `weight and the. material employed, which is a great desideratum in= this class of goods.`

I prefer to construct the two halves of sheetlsteel precisely alike, stamped or' pressed into Vbe covered with a flat plate, neatly soldered or otherwise' attached thereto, so that the jaws would appear solid; but Ido not consider this necessary. The essential. feature isthe construction ofthe two parts or halvesof thin material, stiff enough for the purpose,so as to present a convex contour on the outside and a concave contour on the inside.

I combine with the stretcher a powder-receptacle,'B, both arranged in such a manner,

in reference to each other that the powder may be applied to the interiorof the glove while the jaws of the stretcher are inside the same, and extended or open.

rlhe precise form or precise arrangement of thereceptacle B is not essential; but I have shown in'Fig. l a metallic or hard-rubber box, B, providedwith a capped opening at d for the insert-ion of the powder, and a tube, C, extending centrally forward from said boX, and provided with a finely-perforated nozzle, e, for the escape of the powder.

The box B is placed between the handles b b, and should be attached to' one of them in `some convenient and substantial mannercither removable or permanent. Where the tube G extends forward centrally, as in Fig. 2, I prefer to hinge it to the jaws at the point c, and to preserve its central position between the handles-I arrange a small spring,g g, on

each side ot' it in substantially the manner shown, said springs serving, also, to keep the jaws closed.

In Fig. l the powder-receptacle B is shown attached to one ot' the handles b, and the tube G is represented in dotted lines as lying along the hollow in one of the jaws.

In operating this device the stretcher is iuserted and the jaws extended, as desired. While thus extended t-he powder is ejected through the perforated nozzle e by a quick, jerking motion of the jaws downward, somewhat similar to that used in ejecting the contents of spice-boxes.

If the hollow in the jaws be plated or covered over, these cavities .may be arranged to receive the powder, and the plate or cover be perforated at or near the front end for its expulsion; or the jaw might be perforated for the same purpose.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 thevpowder-receptacle B is a bulb of elastic rubber, and the powder is ejected by compression of the bulb. I prefer to accomplish this by squeezing the bulb between the handles when they are pressed together; and to avoid the expulsion of the powder every time the handles are slightly compressed, as in stretching the glove-lingers, I make the bulb so narrow,

as shown, that the handles do not act uponit until the jaws are opened quite wide. I am. thus enabled iirst to stretch the fingers, and then withdraw the stretcher back into the body of the glove, where room is` had to close the handles on the bulb and eject the powder. As the powder is very finealmost impalpable-the perforations for its escape should be very small.

In Fig. 1, but more clearly in Fig. 4, is shown my peculiar combined hinge-piece and spring. A plate of springsteel is cut somewhat in the form of a T, the branches f f forming the hinging part, and h the spring. The branches are curved upward to correspond with the concave interior of one of the jaws, to which it is itted and firmly riveted, leaving the ends projecting above to receive the other jaw. These ends are pierced with holes t' z', to receive the rivet c, by which the jaws are hinged together. The spring portion h is curved upward, and bears against the in-` ner face of the opposite handle, or against the box B, thus tending to keep the jaws' closed.

In Fig. 5 I have shown this spring in a modied form, which possesses some advantages, although the rst named is the best for some purposes. f

A piece of spring-wire, bent out at the ends c c to form the rivets, has two coils, a a', bent in it, which rest upon the inner surface of the handle, the doubled portion or bight b extending upward and backward, impinging against the other handle to form a spring. When this form of spring and hinge is used I prefer to omit any separate hin gin g-plate, and

form a lip, c', on one part, A, as in Fig. 6.

. This lip is set in, in the manufacture, so as to j rest inside of the-other part or half, and form a lap, through which the rivet c passes.

When the tube Gis to be maintained in a central position, as in Fig. 2, the spring that closes the jaws may be` a thin .leaf of steel,

Ibent to av U shape, the curved part being perforated for the tube C to pass through, and

the ends arranged to press against the inner concave faces of the handles, so as to keep ends may be attached to the handles, and the bow left free.

Having thus descri-bed my invention, what' -the stretcher are expanded therein.

3. The spring device shown in Fig. 4, consisting of the spring 7L and hinging-piece ff, made in one piece, and perforated at i i to receive the hinging -rivet c, substantially as shown.

In witness'whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID s. nAvwAnD.

Witnesses:

HENRY GoNNnfrr, J onu W. S. HUGILL.' 

